


You Alright?

by OnlyDarylNormanFic



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Daryl Dixon Smut, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:27:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyDarylNormanFic/pseuds/OnlyDarylNormanFic
Summary: Summary: The reader gets abruptly dumped by her long-time boyfriend, Robert. She is completely blindsided by this, especially when Robert starts making out with his new girlfriend in front of everyone at the camp and right in front of her. Daryl, who has always watched over her ever since she had come to the camp, saw the whole thing go down and asks the reader if she would like to stay with him for a while. The reader obliges and she ends up moving to Daryl’s camp. They slowly get to know each other and then one night Daryl tells her how he really feels about her. Slow burn, loving smut ending. Season 2. Hershel’s Farm Era.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & Original Female Character(s), Daryl Dixon & You, Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s), Daryl Dixon/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 122





	You Alright?

“You Alright?”

Daryl’s voice came up from behind you, walking up to you as you watched Robert walk away.

You quickly wiped your eyes, trying to stop the tears you felt coming and looked over at Daryl with a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. I’m okay…I’m just gonna…” you trailed off as you turned and quickly walked away.

You walked off to the edge of the farm all the way up to the woods. As soon as you knew it was safe you leaned your back against one of the trees that shaded you and slowly slid down it, finally letting the tears of heartbreak out and down your cheeks.

You put your head in your hands and just let it all go, knowing no one would see you.

You and Robert had been together since long before the world turned to shit. And after it did, you two had stuck together. It wasn’t until you two had caught up with this group that his eye had started to wander.

He started staying out late, offering to keep watch with Andrea a lot. One night, you got sick of waiting for him to come back to your tent and you walked out to find him. You saw him with her, making love to her the way he used to with you. Right there for anyone to see by the camper on the ground.

You got up the nerve to ask him about it a few days later. He didn’t deny it. In fact, he told you it was your fault for being, “too closed off lately.” And that she understood what he needed better than you. You couldn’t believe it. All this time. Knowing this man for so long. And this is how it was ending.

You cried and cried until you couldn’t cry anymore. After you were done you let out a few exhausted sighs, knowing you must look like shit now. You tried to wipe your eyes clean and your face, wishing that you had some sort of coverup to put on your puffy eyes.

You sat up there for another twenty minutes, trying to regain your composer. Every once in a while, you looked down at the tent city on the land below you, watching as everyone laughed and had dinner together as if nothing had happened. You caught the eye of Daryl, who was standing vigilantly outside of the camp, looking up at you.

You smiled softly to yourself at the sight.

Daryl Dixon.

Now, he was something you weren’t expecting, especially in this world.

Since the day you had arrived at the farm and been accepted into their group you had noticed him keeping an eye on you. You weren’t sure why. All you knew is that he made you feel safe. Safer than you had felt in a very long time. You looked over at Robert as he kissed on Andrea in plain sight of everyone and your heart fell.

You remembered a time he had kissed and held you that way.

Daryl followed your gaze and clenched his jaw as he watched Robert maul his new woman right in front of everyone.

“Fuckin’ prick,” he growled to himself under his breath as he started to pace, anger surging through every cell of his body as he glared Robert down.

How could anyone hurt you? You were the sweetest angel he had ever met. You were always smiling and helping others. You never left anyone behind, and you always made sure everyone was taken care of.

He had watched it happen. He was unwilling to admit to anyone but himself how much he had kept an eye over you since your arrival.

He didn’t know why.

There was just something about you.

He wanted to protect you more than anyone else he had ever known.

He kept his distance though, unsure and unwilling to admit how much he wanted you.

It was only at night when he was alone in his tent that he allowed the “what if” scenarios to enter his mind.

What if you could want someone like him?

What if you two could be together and happy?

What if you wanted him just as much as he wanted you?

On nights when his mind asked these questions, he ended up giving way to himself at the thought of making love to you. At the thought of you crying out his name as you gave everything precious to him and only him. He hadn’t had an urge like this since he could remember. You were everything he thought never existed in a woman. Yet here you were; perfectly imperfect.

Daryl looked over at Robert and huffed, puffing his chest out as he felt the anger course through him again. It took everything he had not to walk over there right now and beat his ass on your behalf.

“What’s for dinner?”

Your voice startled Daryl as you walked up behind him, peering hungrily over at the fire over his shoulder.

Daryl looked over at you as you walked up and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

He could tell you had been crying. Your nose was raw and red and so were your eyes. You stood and looked dutifully over at the fire, ignoring Robert and Andrea as best you could.

You had a soldier on mentality and Daryl could tell you were sucking it up the best you could.

“Lori made a big pot of stew,” he finally said, looking over at you with worry.

You avoided his gaze. You felt it on you, as you always did. But refused to look at him for fear that he would see how broken you were really feeling inside. You knew if you did you might not be able to hold it together.

You heard Andrea laugh abruptly and your eyes involuntarily darted over to see Robert covering her neck with kisses as he clung to her for dear life.

You gulped. Feeling more tears trying to rush the surface.

Daryl noticed and cleared his throat.

“You know, why don’t I get ya a bowl and I’ll bring it to your tent,” he said, immediately regretting the words as he remembered your tent was still his.

Your heart dropped into your stomach as he reminded you of the same; you were now essentially homeless.

A few tears streamed down your face, unable to hold them in as your mind raced about what the next step was for you.

“On second thought, why don’t ya come stay with me?” he asked.

You looked over at him in pure surprised shock at his words, wiping away your tears.

“What?” you asked as if you had heard him wrong.

“Just for a few days…Until we can find you another tent,” he said, looking over at you reassuringly, desperately longing to wipe away the tears that asshole had caused and the pain.

“Really?” you asked, secretly grateful to have another place to sleep for the night.

He smiled a little at the look on your face, an optimistic one, and nodded.

“Yeah. Why don’t you go get your stuff and meet me at my place? I’ll grab us a couple of bowls of food and meet you down there,” Daryl said, gesturing with the nudge of his nose and the lift of his right foot towards his tent across the road from tent city.

You looked over at Robert and Andrea one more time, taking a deep breath and nodding.

“Okay. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes?” you asked, looking over at Daryl with a forced smile.

He nodded.

He reached over and put his hand on your shoulder, waiting until your timid, afraid eyes came back to his.

“You can get through this, Y/N. I know it,” he said.

He looked at you with resolve as if he was trying to force you to believe his words.

You gulped again and nodded up to him, trying to believe his words of encouragement.

“Thanks, Daryl,” you said sincerely as you looked up into his beautiful dark blue eyes.

“I’m not gonna let anythin’ happen to ya, Y/N. I’ll keep you safe,” he said, looking over at you with something softer and more loving in his eyes than you had ever seen before from him.

It made your heart flutter. And for a moment? You forgot about Robert and what was going to hell in your life.

The way he looked at you?

It was like someone seeing you for the real you for the first time.

You couldn’t remember the last time someone looked at you that way.

You heard Andrea giggle again and your thoughts turned back to Robert.

And it hit you.

He had never looked at you that way.

You were always just a thing to him, something he could show off or use to feel like a man.

Was he ever really your man? Did he ever even have an intention to be?

You looked back over at him with her and watched as he pawed at her so carelessly after only just breaking it off with you.

“Years,” you said to yourself, your mind escaping softly through your lips as you realized what a sham it had all really been for him.

“What?” Daryl asked, looking over at you with loving concern as you watched them.

“Nothing…I’ll…I’ll go get my stuff and meet you over there,” you said, absentmindedly as you forced yourself to turn and walk away.

Daryl watched with pained concern as you forced your feet forward towards your tent to collect your things. Daryl turned and paced back and forth again, giving Robert the death glare as he watched him maul Andrea with not a care in the world.

He looked back over at you as you walked into your old tent to collect your things, knowing the last thing you would want was to cause a scene. He looked back at Robert and huffed one more time in pure hateful anger before forcing his own feet to go over and get you both each a bowl of stew for dinner.

Lori dished him out two bowls and he walked them over to his tent, which was across the gravel road a couple of hundred yards away from everyone else. He was careful to step over the tripwire that surrounded his camp, which had cans attached to it as his alarm system. He walked over and sat the two bowls down, one on each stump he had set up next to a small fire pit.

He grabbed his lighter, kneeling down and starting the kindling under the stacked pyramid of logs in the pit on fire. He looked over at his dwindling stack of wood, noticing he would have to go out into the woods to chop some more tomorrow. He stoked the fire absentmindedly as he thought about what that jerk had done to you.

He heard the cans from his tripwire start clinking loudly together and turned just in time to watch you trip over the wire and fall down to your knees, your bag and blanket falling in front of you on the ground.

“Shit!” you muttered as you fell to your knees and quickly struggled back to your feet.

Daryl walked quickly over to you, putting his hand on your shoulder as he looked you over.

“Are you alright?” he asked, looking over at you with concern.

You shook your shoulders loose and dusted off your now grass-stained knees.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I can be such a klutz,” you said rolling your eyes as your cheeks turned a slight color of red.

Great. Here he was helping you out and you couldn’t even walk right. You thought to yourself with embarrassment.

Daryl turned and quickly picked up your blanket off the slightly soggy ground and grabbed your bag, throwing it over his shoulder. He turned back toward you and looked reassuringly into your eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, softer than his usual tone.

You looked away, still embarrassed as you wrapped your arms protectively around your body. His intense eyes made your stomach flip and you didn’t know why. 

Daryl noticed your discomfort and shifted the bag’s strap on his shoulder.

“Ya want me to put this inside?” he asked, looking awkwardly over at you.

You looked over at him and noticed he had your stuff in his arms. You smiled, looking up at him with a softness in your eye as you nodded back at him.

“Yeah. Thanks,” you said in a near whisper, surprised at how attentive he was being toward you.

He cleared his throat and nodded, slowly turning to walk over to his tent.

You watched him in quiet curiosity as he unzipped the tent and walked inside. You heard him shuffling around a few things inside the tent and then the unmistakable sound of him fluffing out your blanket onto the floor of his tent. After another moment he walked over and emerged from the tent, pushing the tent’s door flap up as he walked back outside.

He was gorgeous. You thought to yourself as he walked back into your eye line, allowing yourself for the first time to look at him in such a way.

And just for a moment, you forgot the hell and heartache you were going through.

He brought his eyes slowly back to yours, trying to ignore how beautiful you looked, even all scuffed up from your fall. Your hair was in a tangled mess and you looked like you had been crying again. Yet here you were, still looking like the beautiful angel you were.

“Ya wanna eat?” he asked you, gesturing to the two bowls on each stump facing the campfire.

You smiled at the sight, your stomach growling at the idea and nodded.

“Yeah. That’d be great,” you said, looking over at him with a curious smile.

He gestured to you with his arm to go ahead and make yourself at home here in his little square of the world.

You turned and walked over to the closest stump by the fire and took the bowl, sitting down on the stump and scooping some stew into your mouth. You chomped on it hungrily, suddenly realizing you hadn’t eaten anything in nearly 24 hours.

Daryl smiled to himself as he watched you gulp it down, scoop after scoop, until it was gone, in under a minute.

You looked over at him with a sheepish smile, wiping your arm across your mouth.

“Sorry. I guess I was hungry,” you said, looking up at him and laughing a little with that same embarrassed smile.

Daryl grabbed his bowl and sat down beside you, looking you over for a second with concern.

“Don’t be sorry, Y/N. You were just hungry,” he said, looking over at you with a small reassuring smile.

He reached over and poured half of his stew into your empty bowl.

“Here,” he said as he poured, nudging his nose up and looking up at you insistent that you take it.

You were about to tell him, no, but when you looked into his eyes you knew he wouldn’t let you.

You shrugged and smiled gratefully over at him, looking down at the stew.

“Thanks…I guess it’s been a day or two,” you said, looking harshly over at tent city just beyond the gravel road.

Daryl noticed the look in your eyes as you glared over at him, the wind softly blowing your hair in your face as the sun started to set.

Daryl quickly gulped his stew down and set his bowl down on the ground. He got up and grabbed a few logs from his stack and put them on in the fire, stoking it with them as he did so.

He looked over and watched you devour the rest of the stew in your bowl and put it down on the ground beside you. You looked off into space as if you were deep in thought.

Daryl let you sit along with your thoughts as he walked back over to his stump and took a seat. He lit a cigarette and inhaled, looking over and watching the sun slowly set into the horizon. He took a cautionary sweep of the field around you all every few minutes, making sure that he didn’t have anything to worry about.

After a few minutes of silence, you looked over at him. The sun had set, and it was starting to get dark. You watched him as he vigilantly kept watch for the group, even though he knew they had people elsewhere to do that.

He felt your eyes on him and slowly brought his eyes back to yours, blinking a few times as he forced his eyes back to yours.

“What?” he asked, suddenly self-conscious by your stare as he tossed the bangs out of his eyes and looked over at you nervously.

You smiled a small smile as if to yourself at his beautiful smile and shook your head.

“Nothing,” you said, looking over into the fire again, realizing that you felt safer here than you thought you would.

“Nothing…Just…” you forced your eyes to look back into Daryl’s and said, “…Thank you.”

There were no other words you could say, at least right now. You were exhausted and emotionally drained. You hadn’t slept in days. After the food you had and the feeling of safety had set in, your body and mind just dropped into pure exhaustion mode.

Daryl noticed your body relaxing and your eyes drooping as you gave into the fire’s slow, sleepy, warm glow.

“Why don’t you go in and get some sleep?” he said, nodding his head back toward the tent.

“I laid out your blanket and gave you a pillow,” he said, standing up and offering his hand to you.

You took it and he pulled you up to your feet. You walked back toward the tent with him and followed him inside. You saw he had made up your bed on the other side of the tent from his sleeping bag and there was a small lantern in between them with another lighter by it.

“If ya need light during the night…” he said gesturing towards the lantern, standing just a few feet inside the tent, trying not to make you feel crowded.

You looked over at your new bed with your bag down at the bottom of it and then back over at him. The fire from outside illuminated the tent inside with a soft, comforting glow.

You hesitated at first but then slowly walked over to him.

You watched his body stiffen as you walked into it, running your arms up to hug him.

You kissed his cheek and then dropped back to your heels and looked up into his eyes.

“Seriously, thank you, Daryl,” you said, looking up into his eyes with nothing but safe gratitude.

“I don’t know what I would have done if I had to…” you said, looking away with tears building in your eyes.

“Ya don’t have to thank me, Y/N…,” he said, looking you over with pain in his heart as he watched your eyes tear up with scared pain.

“…I’ll always help ya when ya need it,” he said quietly, knowing full well in his heart just how true that was.

You looked over at him and noticed the pure protection in his eyes for you for the first time.

You smiled over at him, shyly, not sure what this was. All you knew was you felt safe around him.

There was an awkward silence in the air for a few moments, neither of you sure really what to say next.

Daryl cleared his throat, stepping back a little, rocking slightly back and forth on his heels.

“Well, I guess I’ll let ya get some rest,” Daryl said, looking over at you with an awkward smile.

You yawned, running your hands up and down your arms, remembering how tired you were and nodded.

“I’ll be just outside for a while if ya need me,” he said, turning and walking towards the open flapped door.

“Will you… will you be back soon?” you asked, suddenly afraid of being alone for too long without him.

He smiled a small smile, looking away for a second before bringing his eyes back to yours as he nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon,” he said softly, shaking the bangs out of his eyes as he took in the way you were looking at him for a second before biding you a goodnight.

“Goodnight, Y/N. Sleep well,” he said, nodding again politely to you before dipping out of the tent.

You watched as he zipped up the door and heard him stoking the fire again a few seconds later.

You looked around at the sight around you. You laughed a little to yourself as you noticed that Daryl had piled all of his clothes, weapons, and other tools over in one corner of the tent to make room for you.

You looked over at the zipped shut door for a moment, making sure he was gone for a while before kneeling down and unzipping your bag. You pulled out your long pajama shirt and short shorts. You put them on, deciding to leave on your bra for the night. You tucked your other clothes into the bag and climbed into your blanket, securing it around you as you laid your head down on the pillow that he had given you.

You fluffed the pillow a little as you nestled into it, looking over at Daryl’s sleeping bag and noticing he had no pillow. You smiled to yourself at the thought of him offering this one to you as you nestled into it and closed your eyes. You yawned, your body reminding you again how exhausted you were. You snuggled into your blanket and the pillow and closed your eyes, feeling completely safe and at peace as you quickly dozed off into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Daryl stayed outside for a while, watching tent city as each tent slowly turned out their lights for the night. After he was sure everyone was safe and sound, he put out the fire and walked over to the door of the tent. He listened for a second, hearing nothing.

He reached his hand down and slowly pulled the zipper up and open, trying to be as quiet as possible as he stepped inside. He took off his boots and turned to zip the door closed again, looking over at you wincing as he tried not to wake you up.

You stirred a little at the sound but stayed asleep. You turned and nestled your head toward the other wall, moaning a little to yourself with confused irritation before falling back into your deep slumber.

Daryl kicked out of his boots and walked over to his sleeping bag. He climbed inside, putting the top half over him. He grabbed the knife out of his holster and laid it beside the lantern beside him. He shifted awkwardly, trying to get comfortable with you being just a few feet away.

He looked over at you and watched you sleeping, trying to avoid the smile that twitched on the edge of his mouth at the sight. He put his hand over his eyes and cleared his throat, shutting his eyes and squirming uncomfortably a few more times before eventually falling asleep.

\-----

You awoke the next morning feeling rested for the first time since you couldn’t remember when. You sat up, squinting your eyes as they adjusted to the daylight. You could tell with how bright it was that it was later in the morning, maybe eleven o’clock? You heard the sound of the campfire outside and could smell the oak wood burning and the smell of something else.

You opened your blanket and got up. You walked over to the door of the tent and unzipped it, peeking outside with another wince up at the sun. You smiled when you saw Daryl sitting there stirring some soup around swiftly over the fire in an iron cast pot, holding the handle with a dirty white towel wrapped around his hand.

He heard the sound of the zipper and turned around to see you emerge.

“Mornin’…” he said, turning his attention back to the pot, stirring it swiftly again a few more times before taking it off the fire and setting it on the stump behind him.

He put the towel in his back pocket, running his hands nervously up and down his thighs as he turned to face you.

“Well, at least for a few minutes still,” he said, squinting up at the sun, which was about to reach high noon.

You followed his gaze and noticed how late you had slept.

“How’d ya sleep?” Daryl asked as he poured half of the soup into one bowl and half into another.

“Really good actually,” you said in surprise as you walked over and sat on the other stump beside him.

He handed you one of the bowls.

“Eat,” he said, pushing the bowl at you.

You smiled and nodded, taking the bowl and bringing it to your lips.

You sipped on the soup, moaning a little with happiness when you realized it was tomato soup.

“Thank you, this is delicious…Mmm, my favorite…” you said, slurping up the soup with delight as you tried to savor it.

“Good to know,” he said smiling a little to himself as he made that mental note in his head.

He slurped down his own soup beside you.

You two sat in comfortable silence as you ate your lunch, watching the fire flicker and glow at your feet.

“So, what do you have planned today?” you asked after a minute, looking over at him curiously as you took another sip of your soup.

He looked over at you, turning his dutiful face on again and nodded toward his dwindling firewood pile.

“Actually, I’ve got to go out and chop up some more firewood,” he said.

“Hershel’s got an old wheelbarrow that he said I could borrow. I’m gonna take it out to the woods just over there, see what I can find,” he said, nudging his nose towards the woods just about a half a mile or so past the meadow before you.

He looked over at you with curious concern.

“Ya gonna be alright while I’m gone?” he asked.

You looked over at him with surprise and laughed a little.

“Me?” you asked, pressing your hand against your chest with a look of astonishment on your face.

“I can take care of myself, Dixon,” you said, standing up and handing him your empty bowl.

You put your hands on your hips and turned to look back at him with whimsy.

“Maybe that’s why you should take me with you,” you said, looking over at him mischievously.

He huffed, taking your bowl and putting it to the side with his own.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Y/N…,” he said, trailing off. He would hate himself if something ever happened to you.

“And why’s that?” you asked with curious eyes, still holding your ground.

He looked over at you with slight worry in his eyes.

“Maybe you should just stay here, where it’s safe,” he said.

“Stay here?” you asked, looking back over at tent city as your stomach dropped.

“Yeah…I mean…I guess…” you said, your entire mood completely dimming at the thought of having to go through a whole day alone watching them together again and everyone whispering about it.

Daryl noticed and put down his bowl too, standing up and walking over to you.

He very lightly put his hand on your shoulder and said, “On second thought, I could use the help.”

You turned and looked at him with a sigh and smile of relief, nodding in agreement to him.

“Great! I’ll just go get changed and we can go?” you asked him.

He smiled a small smile and nodded.

“Sure,” he said, taking his hand timidly off of your shoulder, tightening his jaw at the thought of you undressing.

“I’m gonna go up and get us some water for the trip. I’ll meet you back here,” he said, clearing his throat and trying to clear his mind from the thoughts you had just invoked.

You nodded in agreement and you walked toward the tent. You turned and smiled to yourself as you watched Daryl quickly avert his eyes and turn around. He grabbed your two canteens and walk toward the farm, avoiding eye contact with you as he stepped over the wire, silently scolding his own klutziness.

You admired him for another few moments before turning and walking back into the tent. You zipped it up and took your time getting dressed. You put your tank top on and pulled up your jean shorts. You brushed your hair and put it in a ponytail, knowing the mission would probably be a sweaty one.

You took out a small mirror and inspected your face and your hair, rolling your eyes a little at yourself as you stared at yourself curiously.

“What are doing?” you asked yourself, putting the mirror away. You looked over at the bag and the mirror now sitting at the top of it, silently asking yourself just why you cared what this man thought of your appearance.

Daryl interrupted your musings as he tapped softly on the door of the tent.

“Y/N?” he asked, calling in to you.

“Coming,” you called back, quickly putting your boots on and lacing them up.

You got up and walked over to the door unzipping it to find him right on the other end.

He held one canteen out for you. You took it, strapping the strap around your body and slinging it over your shoulder. You double-checked that your knife was holstered at your hip on your belt before nodding to him that you were ready.

You walked out and Daryl zipped up the tent. He made sure the fire was out and that his camp was secure before you two set off towards the woods. He had brought the wheelbarrow back with him when he went to fill the canteens. He pushed it out towards the woods with an ax inside it and his crossbow secured on his back.

You two set out towards the woods and began to walk through the meadow.

You were silent for about ten minutes as you walked towards the woods when you looked over at him with curiosity.

“Aren’t you going to ask me about it?” you asked him, wondering why he hadn’t yet.

He looked over at you for a second before turning his attention back toward his path ahead.

“I figured if and when you wanted to talk about it, you would,” he said as he walked forward.

You smiled a little at his respectful nature. You continued forward with a thoughtful look on your face as you thought about all the things you were feeling right now, a swirl of emotion. But one thing you didn’t feel right now was the devastating sadness you had felt when you watched Robert walk away from you. No, right now you felt at ease. You looked over at Daryl thoughtfully again, wondering what it was about him that made you feel so safe with him.

You two reached the edge of the woods and Daryl held back a tree branch for you as you stepped into the woods from the clearing. You dipped under it and walked inside, grabbing the branch and holding it for him as he pushed the wheelbarrow into the woods. You two followed a small trail that led down to a river.

You smiled to yourself as you reached the shore, loving the sound of the tranquil water as it trickled downstream.

“There are a few fallen trees over there,” Daryl said and pointed to the shoreline just a few yards down from where you were now.

You followed Daryl as he pushed the wheelbarrow over to a couple of trees that had fallen due to what looked like a lightning strike.

Daryl looked around, scouting the area for a minute until he was certain it was safe. He unslung his crossbow from his body and set it down against a nearby tree, dropping his canteen beside it.

You took his cue and unslung your canteen, putting it beside his and looking over at him ready for directions.

Daryl nodded to you as he grabbed the ax from the wheelbarrow.

“I’ll chop, you stack,” he said, walking over to one of the trees.

He brought the ax up and slung it down into a tree branch in one quick motion, continuing to the next immediately.

You walked over and began collecting the wood as he chopped it, stacking it neatly into the wheelbarrow. You two worked together steadily for about an hour until Daryl set down the ax and walked over to fetch your canteens.

“Heads up,” he said, throwing yours in the air toward you.

You caught it with ease and swiftly unscrewed the lid, downing the sweet nectar inside. When you were down you wiped your mouth and screwed the lid on again.

Daryl took a few gulps of his own water, panting away as he caught his breath after the strenuous work. He watched as you looked longingly over at the river and its cool calm water.

“If ya want to go in for a bit, you can,” he said, noticing the longing to cool down in your eyes.

You looked over at him as if he were being ridiculous.

“What?” you asked with surprised eyes.

“What?” he echoed you, tilting his head as he looked over at you with equal curiosity as to why you thought it was so outrageous.

You shrugged and looked back over at the water.

“Nothing, it’s just we never…I was never allowed to…Is it safe?” you asked, timidly looking back over at Daryl.

Daryl huffed with a smirk, ripping his vest off and walking over to you.

He looked over at you with excitement in his eyes and asked, “Since when is this world we live in safe anyway?”

And with that, he kicked off his boots and ran into the river, diving into the deep spot in the middle.

You watched as his head popped back up and he shook his hair out, ringing it out with his hands as he stood there, nearly shoulder-deep in the water as it flowed around him.

“You coming?” he asked, beckoning you with his hand as he playfully ran his arms back and forth under the water.

You looked at him hesitantly for another second before your desire to feel the cool water run over your skin overtook you and you nodded. You kicked out of your boots and ran into the river after him. You ran in like you used to do when you were a kid until it got so deep you fell, diving into the fall and meeting him in the middle.

You dunked under the water and pushed your way back up with the sand under your feet. You emerged from the water smiling the brightest smile Daryl had ever seen, dunking up and down into it happily a few times before laying back and floating.

Daryl stood over you, protecting you from floating away with the current, holding onto your back as you floated in the water.

You closed your eyes and smiled wider, relaxing into his hands and enjoying the water flowing freely around and over you.

“Are you sure this is safe?” you asked, looking up at him with a weary smile.

He smiled back and nudged his nose up toward you.

“Just don’t swallow,” he said.

You laughed, closing your eyes as you moved your arms around freely in the water above your head.

“Bet you’re the first guy in human history to say that,” you said with another laugh, completely immersed in the water and the feeling of safety he was giving you.

He chuckled a little at your words and watched you as you enjoyed the water.

After another few moments, you opened your eyes and looked up at him, locking eyes with his.

You noticed a lighthearted smile on his lips, one you had never seen before from him.

It was beautiful.

You stood up in the water, looking over at him a little sheepishly for a moment.

“I guess we should be getting back,” you said, shrugging as you reminded yourself of the reality of this world.

“What’s the rush?” Daryl asked, cocking his head to the side with an encouraging and playful smile.

“Well, if you insist,” you said, diving back into the water with delight.

You swam back and forth a few yards for a while and floated again for a while. You noticed the sun starting to make its descent and looked up at Daryl, who was just standing there enjoying your company, dipping into the water every once in a while to keep himself satiated.

“You think we should go?” you asked, looking up at the sun and then back over at him with questioning eyes.

Daryl followed your gaze and then surveilled the area again, knowing that getting back home before dark was way less risky.

“Yeah, I guess we should,” he said a little reluctantly as he looked back into your eyes, trying to remember this perfect memory of you as he tucked it away in his mind.

You nodded and stood up, hugging him for a few seconds with gratitude before letting go.

You laughed a little at his response, as his body went stiff and his eyes went wide.

“You act like you’ve never been hugged before, Daryl,” you said with a playful smile and then turned to walk back onto the shore.

Daryl watched you mesmerized by the sight of you ringing out your hair and then your tank top as you walked to shore.

You shook the water out of your hair was a smile on your face as you combed it out with your fingers and wrung out your tank top and shorts the best you could, unaware of his eyes on you.

Daryl walked up to the shoreline after you, slower than usual as he tried to ignore the way he felt about you.

You being so open and innocent with him was something he definitely wasn’t ready for. Nor was he ready for the feeling it created inside of his heart. He tried to shake the thoughts out of his mind as he stepped onto shore.

He followed your lead and grabbed his boots, sitting a few feet away from you on a small grassy hill. You both dried your feet in the grass and with your hands before putting your boots back on and lacing them.

He looked over at you every so often, squinting into the setting sun with a smile as he laced up his boots.

He looked like he wanted to say something to you, but he stayed quiet.

You two laced up your boots together and stood up.

You walked over to your canteen and slung it around your neck and shoulder. You looked down at the ax and picked it up with both hands.

“It’s the least I could do,” you said, looking over at Daryl with a grateful smile.

He nodded with a smile, walking over and tying his canteen to his belt loop and slinging his crossbow back around his neck and shoulders. Once he adjusted it and it was secure, he walked back over to the now full wheelbarrow. He gripped the handles and lifted it, nudging his head toward you.

“Let’s go,” he said.

You nodded and turned to walk back up the path. You led with Daryl following behind you, never giving way to how heavy that wheelbarrow was.

You two were just about to the clearing that opened back into the meadow when you heard the familiar cawing of a walker. You gripped the ax tightly and looked around. You finally saw it slowly walking toward you two from the corner of your eye.

Daryl set the wheelbarrow down, gripping the strap of his crossbow as he started to unsling it.

“Don’t. I got it,” you said, gesturing to him with your hand up.

He nodded, noticing the resolve in your eyes.

You walked swiftly over to the walker and slung the ax right into its face as hard as you could.

So hard that the ax got stuck in its face as it fell limp to the ground.

You smiled to yourself and pushed your boot onto the walker’s shoulder as you pulled the ax out, blood spurting out and onto your leg as you did so.

“Damn!” you said to yourself, looking down at your previously clean leg with disdain at bloodstain.

“Nice shot!” Daryl said, causing you to turn around and look at him with the bloody ax in your hand.

You smiled, loving the feeling of the adrenaline running through your body.

“Thanks,” you said, looking back over at the dead walker.

“I always did enjoy killing these assholes,” you said, wiping the blood off the ax on the grass beneath you before putting it firmly in your hands again and walking forward.

You two entered the clearing and started to walk across the meadow. You looked over at the white farmhouse that had become like a beacon to you all and your heart dropped at the thought of seeing him again. Part of you just wished you never had to again. In fact, a part of you wondered if you should even stay here anymore.

Daryl cleared his throat, looking over at you curiously as he walked side by side with you toward the farm.

You looked over at him with sad eyes as he interrupted your thoughts.

“You good?” he asked, looking over at you with concern.

You forced a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah. I’m good,” you said, forcing your eyes dutifully back toward the farm and forcing your feet to march forward.

He looked you over for another moment before turning his attention forward as well.

Soon enough you two were back at his camp and you helped him unload the firewood, stacking it all into place.

He started a fire as the last rays of light fell upon the earth for the night and the sun said goodnight.

You sat down by the fire and caught your breath.

Daryl looked over at the blood on your leg and disappeared into his tent for a second. He came back with a meaningless rag in his hand and his canteen. He poured some water on it and walked over to you.

“Here,” he said, kneeling down and softly wiping away the blood, throwing the rag in the fire when he was done.

You looked down and watched his actions with a sweet smile.

“Thanks,” you said in a near whisper.

You couldn’t believe how gentle and kind this man was being to you.

He shook the hair out of his eyes and smiled a small smile up at you.

“Don’t mention it,” he said, turning his eyes stoic and serious again as he stood up, wiping the dirt off his knees a few times.

“Ya hungry?” he asked, looking over at tent city and noticing everyone lining up for supper.

You followed his gaze and your eyes turned to worry again.

“No…I think…I think I’m okay…” you said, despite your rumbling stomach.

Daryl looked you over, noticing the change in your demeanor. You tensed up completely at the thought of going back over there.

“It’s alright. I’ll go get us somethin’,” he said, patting your shoulder a few times before turning and walking towards the exit of his camp.

“Just don’t go disappearin’ on me, alright, Y/N?” he asked, half-joking and half-scared you were thinking of leaving here.

You smiled and laughed a little and nodded, looking timidly back over at him.

“Okay,” you said, wrapping your arms around your body, suddenly very aware that your clothes were wet with the setting of the sun.

Daryl noticed and nudged his head toward the tent.

“I’ve got a poncho and some sweatpants in there if ya want ‘em their yours,” he said, looking over at you with sincere care in his eyes.

You smiled a little wider, feeling that amazing feeling rush through you again at his kindness.

“Thanks,” you said again, feeling like an unimaginative broken record. Here he was being just as sweet and kind to you as any man had ever been and all you could continue to say was thank you.

He nodded, looking you over for another minute until he was sure you were okay and then headed off toward the main camp.

You watched him walk confidently away. Your eyes roamed up and down your body. You had to admit, he was gorgeous. You shook your head, looking up at tent city and thinking of Robert again. No, you couldn’t be thinking about something or someone that might make you stay. You didn’t know if you could do that. Not after everything… Still, that didn’t mean you couldn’t enjoy your time with Daryl at least for a little while longer. Right? You silently asked yourself as you watched him walk away.

You took a deep breath and stood up. You walked over to the tent and went inside. You located Daryl’s poncho and sweatpants in the corner of the tent, balled up next to his other spare clothes, weapons, and arrows. You zipped the tent up and took off your jean shorts and underwear, which were still quite damp from the river. You threw on his warm sweatpants and then ripped off your tank top. You took off your bra with a sigh of relief and went to your bag. You pulled out your oversized overnight shirt and threw it on, topping it off by throwing his poncho on over your head. You wrapped your arms around it and wrapped it around you like a blanket with a smile at your new-found warmth.

You grabbed your wet clothes and walked back outside, looking around for a place to dry them. You noticed the wire that surrounded the house and shrugged.

“As good a place as any,” you said, draping your jean shorts and shirt over the wire just a little way from the fire. You looked at the bra and panties in your hand and looked back at the direction Daryl had gone.

You looked over at the tent and noticed the peak in the middle of the doorway at the top, providing a little hiding spot behind it. You walked over, reached up, and set your bra and panties on the roof behind the peak.

You sat down next to the fire and began to settle in for the night, relaxing and enjoying the warmth and the quiet for once. You looked at the flames and began to think back to all the nights you had had with Robert since the end. There was always something he was complaining about, always something or someone who needed fixing. You two never were just there in the moment together. Come to think of it, he had never been that man.

You looked back over at tent city with pondering eyes, wondering if the entire love you had concocted in your mind for Robert had been a lie? How much of what you told yourself about the two of you, all of these years, was real? You looked back at the fire and got lost in your own mind as you went through every memory you could and dissected it for the truth to that question.

You lost track of time dissecting your past with Robert.

After about ten minutes you heard a voice clear. It startled you back to reality. Your eyes snapped to Daryl’s who was back with two plates in his hands. You watched as he balanced his foot over the wire and quickly stepped over it, back into his own territory.

He looked over at you in his sweats and poncho, cozying up by his fire and he smiled at the beautiful sight of you wrapped up in his clothes.

“Warm now?” he asked, walking over and handing you your plate before sitting beside you.

“Yes! Thank you!” you said, internally rolling your eyes at yourself again for your lack of words.

You took the plate and brought it to your lap, smiling to yourself at the sight. It was a sandwich with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and mustard with a few pickles on the side.

You picked up the sandwich and bit into it, moaning happily to yourself as you devoured it bite by bite.

Daryl chuckled a little to himself as he watched you devour your food. He turned his attention to his own sandwich and did the same.

You two ate in comfortable silence, sitting alongside each other by the fire.

When you were done, he handed you your canteen and you finished it off.

Daryl put his plate down and finished his own canteen of water and looked over as you finished every last drop.

“Here, I’ll go get us some more,” he said, reaching his hand over toward you.

You smiled gratefully over at him.

“Thanks, Daryl. But I can come with you. I can’t avoid it forever,” you said, looking warily over at tent city with a nervous stomach.

“You sure?” he asked, looking over at you with concern.

You looked back at him, feeling instantly at ease when you saw his look overprotective concern.

You smiled and nodded, taking a deep breath before standing up. You slung your canteen around your shoulder and grabbed your plate.

Daryl grabbed his plate and canteen and followed you, standing up and nudging his head toward the group.

“Come on, then,” he said, with wary eyes.

You took another deep breath and followed him out of his camp and towards tent city.

He looked over at you and noticed your nervous eyes as you got closer to the camp.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. If he says anything, I’ll break his face,” he said, completely seriously.

You laughed a little to yourself.

“What? I’m serious,” he said, puffing his chest out a little in reaction to your laugh.

You laughed harder and looked over at him with a smile.

“I know you are… But why?” you asked as if to yourself as you looked him over curiously again.

“That’s what I can’t figure out just yet,” you said, getting lost in his eyes for a moment as you tried once again to find out his motive.

Daryl cleared his throat nervously at the look you were giving him and forced his attention and his eyes forward.

You took his cue to focus and walked side-by-side with him up and into the camp. You passed the people who you were so used to seeing every day. They looked over at you with sympathy and nodded a polite hello anytime one of them caught your eye.

“Why do I feel like my mother just died…Again,” you said to Daryl as you walked through a row of people looking at you with deep sympathy.

“Just ignore ‘em,” Daryl said, bringing his hand down and gripping yours, silently letting you know that he had your back no matter what.

You felt him reach down and grab your hand. You looked down at him holding your hand in support, tightly squeezing it.

You looked over at him. His face showed no emotion as he looked forward and dutifully walked you through the crowd and over to the well, which was by the barn.

He dropped your hand when you got there and started pumping the well’s handle up and down. He pumped it up and down a few times and then reached his hand out to you for your canteen.

You unscrewed the lid and gave it to him. You watched as he took it and filled it to the brim and then handed it back to you. He took his own canteen and unscrewed the top, filling it to the brim as well. He pulled it back and screwed the top back on.

Daryl was just about to tell you to head back when you both heard the sound of slow clapping coming from behind you.

You turned around toward the noise and noticed it was Robert clapping as he slowly walked toward the two of you with a cocky smile on his face.

“Well, well, well…What do we have here?” he asked, walking over to you both with a look of amusement on his face.

Robert walked up to you but before he could reach you, Daryl stepped in front of you, his chest puffed out as he stood his ground in between you two.

Robert just laughed at this, slapping Daryl’s shoulder a few times with light-hearted ease.

“Don’t worry, brother…” Robert said, looking over at you and scanning you in Daryl’s clothes.

“…I know what it’s like to want to hit that,” he said, looking your slowly up and down again.

“Fuck you, Robert!” you shouted, lunging at him with your canteen in your hand, ready to hit him with it.

Daryl quickly jut out his arm and held you back until you staggered back into place behind him.

“Yeah…Good idea, keepin’ that one in line…Always going on and on about something,” Robert said looking at you with cocky disdain.

Robert looked over at Daryl who was frozen with rage.

He leaned into Daryl’s ear and whispered, “Just between you and me though, she sure is a little dull in the sack, isn’t she?... I mean the things Andrea lets me do to her-”

Before he could finish Daryl grabbed him by the collar and walked into him, glaring him down just inches from his face.

“You want to stop talkin’ right now,” he growled with pure anger running through his veins.

Robert laughed and pushed Daryl in the shoulder, breaking free of Daryl’s grip on his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah? Or what?” he asked, pushing Daryl’s shoulder again coming right back at him.

Daryl brought both hands out to Robert’s shoulders and shoved him hard. So hard that Robert stumbled back a few feet trying to find his footing trying not to fall.

Robert grunted as he found his footing and glared back over at Daryl, running back into him.

He tried to slam his fist into Daryl’s face, but Daryl caught it and pushed it back, punching Robert in the jaw as hard as he could this time with his other fist. Before Robert could react, Daryl threw another punch at him, hitting him on the other side of his jaw.

Robert fell to the ground, holding his face in pain.

“What the hell man?!” he shouted, looking up at him in confused pain.

“From now on, you don’t speak to her! You don’t even look at her!” Daryl shouted, grabbing Robert’s collar again and raising his fist to him.

“You so much as think something about her and I’ll come back over here and kick your ass so hard that you’d wished you’d never found this group!” he growled, a look of pure serious hatred in his eyes as he glared him down with a look that said he better fucking understand Daryl once and for all.

Robert nodded.

“Fine, sure…whatever…You can have the bitch,” he said spitting out blood to the side of him with a defiant look in his eyes.

“Ya don’t listen do ya?!” Daryl asked and hit him multiple times in the face until he cried out in pain again.

Once Daryl knew he had had enough he pushed him back into the ground, letting his head fall and hit the ground harshly behind him.

Daryl stood over the now bloody and battered man, glaring him down with more anger in him than you had ever seen.

“You stay the fuck away from her from now on! Ya, hear?!” He shouted, reaching down to punch him one more time.

Robert nodded, staying quiet this time and covering his face with his hands defensively.

Daryl turned around and walked over to you.

You stood there in shock at the sight, not sure what to think or feel as you watched Daryl beat on Robert and then stride angrily back to you. You watched him walk over to you with shock in your eyes. You looked up into his eyes, yours slightly scared of him in that moment.

Daryl noticed and grimaced a little, looking over into your eyes apologetically.

“Ya comin’?” he asked, looking over at you, hoping that you wouldn’t think less of him after his outburst.

You looked over at Robert who was glaring you down as he cupped his eye and writhed in pain on the ground.

Then you looked back up into Daryl’s eyes, noticing his slightly embarrassed but endearing look in his eyes as he silently beckoned you to come away with him.

“Ye-Yeah…” you stammered.

“Just…Just one minute,” you said to Daryl and then walked over to Robert.

You stood over him and looked at him with sad disgust. You crouched down and looked him over. You first looked down at him in sadness, which quickly turned to anger and disgust.

“All those years…And this is all you turned out to be. I can’t believe I never saw it before. The way you treated me…The way you neglected me and talked down to me…I never saw it for what it really was until today. So, thank you, Robert. Thank you for showing me just who you really are,” you said and stood back up, still glaring him down.

“Thank you for being the epitome of everything I now know I will never settle for again,” you said and turned to walk back toward Daryl. You stopped after a few feet and turned to look back at Robert.

“He’s right…” you said gesturing to Daryl.

“…Don’t you ever fucking speak to me again…Or I’ll have you thrown out,” you said, matter-of-factly and then turned and walked back over to Daryl.

“You can’t do that, bitch!” Robert shouted, staggering to his feet, still cupping his eye.

Daryl looked angrily over at you and you nodded as permission. Daryl walked right back over to Robert and got in his face, his fist clenched and at the ready.

“She can do that. In case you haven’t noticed the only thing protecting you from those undead choppers out there is us! You don’t contribute. You can’t kill walkers. How the fuck do you think a prick like you would survive out there?” Daryl asked, huffing a little with a smirk as he looked the weak man in front of him up and down.

“And you certainly can’t take care of her! Hell, she’s been takin’ care of you since this shit show started,” Daryl growled, pointing back at you as he inched closer into Robert’s face.

Robert stood still, not wanting to get hit again and knowing that Daryl was right. He wouldn’t last a day outside this group alone.

“Alright…Alright,” Robert finally said in submission, raising his arms in surrender.

“I won’t talk to her or look at her. I promise,” Robert said, repeating what Daryl needed to hear to let him be.

Daryl huffed in disgust at how easily the man had given up. On you. And with him. He was definitely not the man you deserved.

Daryl looked back at you and noticed your hurt, hard eyes focused on the two of them as you watched the scene unfold. You locked eyes with him and they softened, beckoning him back to you.

Daryl smiled a little to himself, without Robert seeing. He turned his face stoic again as he turned back to face Robert again. Daryl looked the worthless man up and down and huffed with disgust before Daryl locked eyes with his again.

“Don’t worry, *Robert*,” he said with such disdain.

He looked back at you with another small smile and then stoically returned his hard gaze back to Robert.

“…Y/N’s gonna be just fine…Better than fine…” Daryl said, leaning into Robert’s ear and whispered, “I’ll make sure of it. She deserves that much after a *man* like you.”

And with that Daryl turned and walked back toward you with a more confident strut than usual as he thought of all the ways he was so right for the position of loving you.

“Come on,” he said softly walking back over to you and reaching out his hand to you.

You took it and let him walk you back down toward tent city, his hand firmly holding yours. You looked back one more time at Robert, asking yourself internally why you had ever agreed to be with someone like him. You looked up at Daryl who was dutifully escorting you through tent city, ignoring the curious eyes on the two of you, and walking you both out toward his home.

You walked in silence until you got to his camp. You looked curiously over at him from time to time. But he never faltered to look straight ahead and around with vigilance, guiding you safely back to his home.

He stepped over the wire and guided you over with care, one foot at a time.

You smiled gratefully at him as you stepped over the wire and stood face to face with him.

You looked down at his hand still holding yours and back up at him with a small smile.

“Thank you, Daryl. But you didn’t have to do that. I mean it-”

Daryl interrupted you as he let go of your hand.

“Yes. I did, Y/N. He deserved to be put in his place,” he said, matter-of-factly with a look of nervous, resolve in his eyes back at you.

“Sorry, ya had to hear that though. What a fuckin’ prick,” Daryl said, his blood boiling again as he thought back to how Robert had disrespected you.

You shrugged and looked away, fighting the feeling of your heart dropping into your stomach as you relived Robert’s words in your mind.

“I can’t believe I spent all those years with him and in the end, that’s how he thinks of me,” you said, sadly looking up at the nearly full moon as it illuminated the sky and area around you with its sweet glow, trying to avoid the tears that wanted to fall as you thought back to all those years you had wasted on someone like him.

Daryl turned and walked over to the pile of wood you two had stacked earlier today. He grabbed a few logs and threw them on the fire.

“He’s an asshole,” Daryl said, growling a little deep back in his throat as he looked over at you with that same pure anger in his eyes that you had seen earlier tonight for the first time when he confronted Robert.

“You deserve better, Y/N,” Daryl said, looking over at you with soft, sincere eyes. 

You smiled a little and shrugged again, slowly walking over and taking a seat by the fire.

He bent down to stoke the embers at the bottom of the fire.

You two sat there in silence for a few minutes as Daryl stoked the fire back to life, looking over at you with worry every so often.

You sat there and stared at the fire, watching as he hit the embers and the sparks that came back to life after the collision. You watched as the dying fire turned into something roaring, beautiful, and warm. You smiled to yourself as the heat of the re-stoked fire began to hit you and wrapped your arms around your body under Daryl’s poncho, getting lost in the feeling of peace and warmth that you felt.

You looked over at Daryl curiously as the fire and the moonlight lit up his beautifully kind face in the night. You realized you hadn’t felt this safe and protected in a long time.

Daryl sat down beside you once the fire came back to life and reached his hands out toward it, warming them up. After another few moments of silence, he timidly looked over at you.

“You alright, Y/N? I know that had to have been very hard for you,” he said, looking over at you with concern.

You looked over at him and smiled sweetly at his concern.

You nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks to you,” you said, smiling gratefully over at him.

“I didn’t do nothin’ any decent man wouldn’t do,” Daryl said with a huff as he shook the bangs out of his face and looked stoically over at you.

You laughed a little causing him to tilt his head and look over at you curiously.

“Nothing…It’s just…It’s just…You really don’t see it do you?” you asked him, peering curiously over at him.

“See what?” he asked.

“How amazing you are,” you said, softly.

Daryl huffed and looked away like you were being ridiculous, putting his hand on his thigh as he leaned away from you.

“I ain’t nothin’ special,” he said, looking at the flames in the fire and avoiding your stare.

“All I know is we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. I know I wouldn’t be…” you said, looking back out into the wilderness again with wide eyes.

“What’s that mean?” he asked, venturing a glance over at you.

“Nothing…” you said with a far-off look in your eye.

Daryl followed your gaze and put it together.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about leaving because of that prick up there,” Daryl growled, angry again at the thought of you out there all alone.

You looked at the ground and shrugged.

“I mean, I was thinking about it. It’s not gonna be easy living here with him,” you said as your boot stomped softly into the dirt.

Daryl grimaced, looking over and noticing the hurt expression on your face.

“I know it’s gonna be hard at first. But you can get through it,” Daryl said, timidly bringing his hand over to rest on your shoulder.

You looked over at him and smiled, looking into his caring eyes.

“Why do you care so much?” you asked him softly, finally asking the question that had been on your mind all day.

Daryl sat there frozen for a moment, looking away as if he were trying to decide something. After a moment he nodded, took a breath and stood up, offering his hand out to you.

You took it with a surprised, curious look on your face and let him lift you to your feet.

You took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers together as he lightly clasped to your hand with his own. He stood opposite of you just a few inches apart as the fireside glow radiated onto the two of you.

You stood there confused as you watched him look into your eyes, waiting for him to speak.

“I like being here for ya, Y/N…I wanna be here for ya… in every way,” he said, hoping you knew what he meant as he looked hopefully back over at you as he put his heart on the line.

You looked down at his hand in yours and digested his words.

You ran your eyes back up to his as you realized what he meant.

“You want to be with me?” you asked, looking over him in surprised awe.

Daryl nodded, running his other hand up to cup the side of your face, taking in your beauty with a sweet smile.

“More than anythin’, Y/N. You asked me why I helped you. Well, the truth is I can’t help but need to make sure you’re alright,” he said staring deep into your eyes as he finally revealed his feelings to you.

“Ever since the first time I saw ya, Y/N... And if you’ll let me, I’ll take such good care of you,” he said, looking over at you with hopeful sincerity as he laid it all out on the line.

He looked down at your lips and took a deep breath, pushing his lips to yours for the hungriest kiss you had ever experienced. He pushed his lips to yours and gave you a few hard kisses. He nudged his nose up into yours and watched your mouth fall open. He smiled to himself and pushed his tongue into your mouth. He grabbed ahold of your tongue and swirled it around his own with dominance, moaning to himself as he felt you swirling your tongue eagerly along with his.

You swirled your tongue around his faster and with more passion as you sunk into the best kiss you had ever had. You moaned happily to yourself when you felt him drop your hand and bring it up to the other side of your face. He cupped your face with both hands as he dominantly walked his body into yours and kissed you with pure passion.

You moaned again into his amazing kiss, bringing your hands up to clutch to the sides of his body as he walked you both backward. After a few feet, your back hit the trunk of the big tree which was in the corner of Daryl’s boxed in camping area.

You gasped in surprise as your back hit the tree. Daryl wasted no time, running his hand down and under your poncho, begin to explore your body as you two kissed each other feverishly.

He pushed his weight onto you and pulled his lips from yours, smiling to himself at the look of hazy awe in your eyes.

You looked up at him, panting a little, with red lips. Your mouth was parted as you looked up into his eyes the way he had always wished you would; like you were his.

“So, what do ya say? Can I keep you?” he asked, kissing your lips shortly a few more times before leaning back and looking hopefully over at you.

You smiled, brightly, running your hands up his chest to his neck, gripping it as you looked deeply into his hopeful eyes.

“I say…yes. Definitely, yes!” you said with an excited smile.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around you, stepping back a little to pull your body into his.

He took you in with a smile before running his loving eyes back to yours, his lips just inches from his.

“I can’t believe I finally get to have you all to myself…” he said, looking into your eyes with happy awe for a moment before he pushed his lips back to yours for another marathon kiss.

You sighed and sank into his kiss, wrapping your arms around him and pulling him further into you as your tongues danced around with each other’s lovingly again.

After a few more minutes of kissing Daryl led you to into the tent for the night. You kissed on each other another half hour or so until you yawned involuntarily.

Daryl pulled his lips from yours and said in a sweet whisper, “Go to sleep, Y/N. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” you asked, closing your eyes and nestling onto his shoulder and body.

He smiled to himself and kissed the top of your head.

“I promise, Y/N. I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered, wrapping his arm more tightly around your body and pulling you securely into him.

You smiled and quickly fell asleep, feeling so safe in his arms.

\-----

This became your entire life for the next few weeks as you quickly got to know each other. When you weren’t passionately kissing you were talking and getting to know each other. Story by story you two got to know each other, laughing and loving each day together as they passed.

You two hadn’t been fully intimate yet. And after a couple of weeks passed you decided it was time.

You and Daryl were kissing heavily, before bed one night, and you just couldn’t wait any longer. As you swirled your tongue around his, you slowly ran your hand down his chest and stomach to his clothed cock. You rubbed it slow and hard, moaning into his mouth happily at the size and the feeling of it throbbing for you.

Daryl growled happily at your bold touch and rolled you over so that he was on top of you. He straddled your core and instinctually began to dry hump your thigh with clothed cock rubbing roughly up and down the inside of your leg.

Daryl growled into your kiss again in confused pleasure at the feeling.

You cried out into his kiss at the feeling of his cock riding you inside his jeans, loving how much he wanted you. You pulled your lips from his, looking up into his eyes with pure love and want in yours. You ran your hands up and down his chest, licking your lips hungrily as you started to unbutton his flannel shirt.

He stopped his actions and swung his leg over your other leg so that he was straddling your core with his. He looked down and watched your fingers slowly unbutton his shirt. His heart was racing with anticipation as you slowly undressed him for the very first time.

You pushed his shirt down and off his shoulders, one by one. You ran your hands up and down his chest, smile to yourself at the view before running your happy eyes back to his.

You looked up at him with a happy smile as you reached down and grabbed the buckled of his belt.

Daryl was already slightly panting, but his heart rate shot through the roof when he felt your fingers on his belt buckle.

You locked eyes with his as you unbuckled it and brought your fingers to the button. You unbuttoned it and then ran your hands back and forth from his stomach to his sides looking up at him suggestively.

“Are ya sure?” he asked you.

You smiled up at him and nodded.

“Yes. I’m sure, Daryl. I’m so ready for you…” you said to him, hunger in your eyes as you thought about how good it would feel to have him take you in every amazing way.

You put your fingers in his belt loops and pulled them playfully in your direction, looking up into his eyes with only pure want.

When Daryl was sure, he lunged down, pushing his hands to the sides of your face as he pushed his lips back to yours.

You moaned happily in surprise and quickly opened your mouth to him.

He kissed your upper lip softly and then your lower lip, just as softly, looking at your lips with a small happy smile as he did.

He looked up into your eyes as he held the sides of your face. He searched your eyes, silently wondering how he had gotten so lucky. He decided not to test fate and smiled at you one more time before turning his attention back to your lips.

He kissed them sweetly a few more times and then slowly pushed his tongue inside, groaning softly and happily at the feeling of capture that sweet, sweet tongue of yours again.

You both closed your eyes and concentrated on the slow, sensual kiss, silently telling each other how much you cared about one another.

Daryl slowly pulled his lips from yours and nuzzled his nose around yours a few times.

“Are you really sure, Y/N? Because I can wait…I don’t want ya to feel-”

You interrupted him with a long, slow kiss. You only let go of his tongue around yours when he moaned happily to himself at your passion.

You pulled your lips from his and laid your head back down.

“Daryl, I don’t want to wait any longer…I want you. I need you now…” you said looking up at him with pure yearning.

“Alright, alright…no need to beg,” Daryl said with a smirk, causing you to giggle a little.

You loved watching him open up to you in all of these different little ways.

He rolled over to your side, laying on his side facing you, propping his left elbow on the ground to rest the side of his face on.

He placed his index finger on your sternum and slowly trickled it down in between your breasts, down your stomach, trailing mid-way down your right thigh until he hit the hem. He let his hand roam up and down your naked thigh underneath it a few times before he pulled the shirt up.

You lifted your ass a minute, helping him. Once it got mid-way up your stomach you reached down and grabbed the fabric, pulling it quickly up and off you. You whipped it to the side with slight annoyance.

This made Daryl smirk a little as he watched you turn back around and lay back down.

Daryl looked over at you and leaned over giving you another slow kiss.

As he pushed his tongue back into your mouth his right hand softly roamed around your stomach. He swirled his tongue around yours steadily at first until he allowed his hand to venture north. His hand reached your breasts and he groaned, roughly taking both of them in one at a time. As he did this his tongue sped up, faster and faster as he massaged your breasts with more and more free reign.

“Oh, god, Daryl…Yes…” you moaned, your lips shooting off of his as you closed your eyes and enjoyed his rough touch on your breasts.

Daryl massaged your breasts roughly for another few moments each and then he straddled you, pushed his lips to the side of your neck.

He left hot, soft kisses down to the nape of your neck.

You lifted your head in compliance, loving the feeling of his lips leaving hot kisses down the nape of your neck and your sternum. He crawled down your body as he kissed down your body, kneeing his way in between your legs as he settled in on top of you.

He swirled his hand around your stomach, kissing the spot above your stomach all the way up to your breasts. He cupped them both again, massaging them as he brought his lips to your left nipple. He sucked on it softly, flicking the tip of his tongue up and down it.

“Mmm…” you moaned happily, looking down at him with approval in your eyes as you bit your lip.

He brought his lips over to your other breast and did the same sucking on your nipple and flicking on it. He watched you smile again and whimpered a little. He looked down at your breast and started to devour it, leaving hot kisses all around it. He moaned to himself happily as he sucked and swirled his tongue all around your breasts for another minute, enjoying the taste of you and your whimpering writhing body underneath him.

You brought your hands down and massaged his hair gratefully as you gave into the sweet feeling of his tongue and his kiss all over you.

He grunted a little, feeling his cock screaming at him for relief. He kissed both of your nipples shortly one more time and then brought his eyes back to yours.

You smiled down at him, massaging his hair lightly, hoping his lips would come back to yours soon.

He smiled back, kissing your stomach shortly a few times before shaking your hands out of his hair and pushing himself back up until he was kneeling over you again with your legs on either side of his knees. He looked down at your legs letting his hands run up and down your bare thighs, getting closer to and closer to your hips. When his hands hit your hips, his right hand ran over to just above your clit, swirling around just above it. After a few swirls above it, he ran his fingers around your clit, slowly at first.

“Mm,” you whimpered nearly inaudibly as he started to touch your sweet spot just right.

You started to slowly ride his hand up and down with his motion.

Daryl’s hand began to run up and down your folds too as your hips started to rock up and down.

Daryl felt how wet you were already, feeling the wet pool on the outside of your folds, getting wetter with his fingers' actions. His jaw tightened and his dark blue eyes shot back to yours, more serious than you had ever seen them before.

He said nothing. His eyes remained locked in yours as he grabbed your right ankle and propped it on his left shoulder. He reached around and grabbed your left ankle and swung it over his head to rest also on his left shoulder.

He ran his hands slowly down your calves and thighs until his hands reached the hem of your panties on either side of your hips.

You pushed your hands down to your sides and planked your hips up into the air, long enough for him to slowly pull your panties down your ass. You laid back down and watched as he softly pulled the panties down your thighs, up your calves, and off your feet, flinging them to the side of you by your shirt.

He gently put your legs down on either side of him again, propping your feet up on the blanket below you. He looked down at your pussy, completely open to him now. You were so wet for him and your hips were slowly writhing again as your body beckoned him.

He looked back into your eyes one more time.

You smiled and nodded, licking your lips as you ran your eyes down to the open button of his pants.

He ran his hands down and unzipped the pants. He brought his hands to his hips and pushed down his pants until they fell to his knees. Simultaneously, his cock popped up, hitting his stomach as it throbbed for you. He pushed his body forward, pushing his hands down on either side of your body long enough to kick his pants off, pushing the fabric down his legs repeatedly until he was finally free of them.

He climbed up, kissing up your chest in a zig-zagged pattern until he reached your face. He ghosted it with his own, just inches from yours as he stared deep into your eyes.

He kissed you sweetly once on the lips and then ran his right hand down to grab his cock. He grabbed it and his jaw tightened at the feeling. He was so damn hard for you. He had been since the minute you had allowed him actual access to your amazing kiss and body.

He was nearly shaking with anticipation as he slowly slid his tip up and down the outside of your folds. His mouth opened and he looked at you in disbelief at how amazing you already felt. He tested your waters, pushing his tip slightly inside your folds, sliding it up and down again.

You were looking up at him with begging eyes as your heart rate started to rise with every stroke.

He groaned softly at your begging eyes, bringing his tip down to your entrance and slowly pushing his cock inside you.

“Fuck!” Daryl growled, pushing his way inside your tight, wet pussy.

“OH!” you cried out in confusion as you took his huge cock in.

You had never been with anyone this big before.

Daryl couldn’t help but react instinctually to you calling out to him. So, he slammed deep into your hilt harshly a few times.

This caused you to cry out in confused pleasure this time as he invaded you so deep and hard. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he began to hit into you more steadily, slowing down a little as he looked down at your reaction.

You looked back up at him with pure awe in your eyes, whimpering in pleasure every few hits when he hit into you quick and hard, only to slow it down again.

You began to rock your hips up and down, meeting his rhythm and fucking him back.

He grunted and smiled down to you, concentrating on matching your rhythm and pace. He dropped his full weight down onto you, needing to feel your body running up and down against yours. He dropped down to his forearms which he planted on either side of your head and sank into you fully.

“Oh, yeah! Daryl!” you moaned happily, rocking your core appreciatively up into his, rubbing it harshly and slow against your clit.

Daryl slammed his cock deep into you, locking his core into yours. He then slowly ran his core up and down yours, mirroring your actions.

“Yes…Right like that…” you whimpered, running your hands up into his hair and gripping it with pure need for him to continue.

He slowly rocked up and down your core as hard and slow as he could until you started to rock up into him faster.

He took the cue and started to rock into you faster, hitting into your harshly again at your hilt.

“Oh! Yes!!” you cried out as your body started bouncing quickly for him.

Every time he slammed up into you, you hit back, and then he hit up even harder and further into you.

“Fuck!?!” you cried out, looking up at him with contorted awe on your face as he fucked you so hard and deep. He fucked you like no man ever had before.

“Oh! Oh, God!!” you cried out, rocking up and down onto his cock eagerly as your body climbed towards an amazing orgasm.

Daryl could tell you were close to release and so was he.

“Fuck, Y/N!” Daryl cried out with confusion as he fought the urge to explode right then and there.

He wrapped your left leg around his waist and began to fuck you with everything he had. He hit into you short and deep rapidly until you cried out and you came so hard all over his cock.

“OH! FUCK!! YES!!” you cried out loudly as you held onto his body until he fucked you so fast and hard you came like an explosion.

Daryl growled, unable to stop himself at the sight and feeling of you cumming all over his cock. He buried his face in your neck and slammed into your hilt jackhammering shortly so deep inside you until he cried out into your ear and came so hard, so deep inside you.

“Y/N!!” he cried out your name into your ear with happy disbelief as his amazing orgasm ran through every cell of his body.

Your pussy was still contracting over his from your high. When he felt that after exploding, he groaned again, slamming his cock deep and shortly into you again a few more times.

“Ohh…” you whimpered happily at the feeling, loving the way he fucked you. So, fucking good!

Daryl collapsed on top of you with exhaustion and you ran your hands back to the back of his hair to absentmindedly play with it. You both laid there for a few minutes in happy silence, enjoying the afterglow of your highs and laying in each other’s arms.

After a few minutes, Daryl nuzzled his chin lightly back and forth on your shoulder.

You giggled softly.

He knew you were highly ticklish.

He chuckled and kissed your neck sweetly a few times on your favorite spot.

“Mmm…You are too good to me, Daryl Dixon,” you said with a completely satisfied smile on your face.

He kissed his way up to your ear.

“Not possible…You deserve it all,” he whispered, kissing the spot under your ear sweetly one more time before leaning his face back up and over you.

He looked you over smiling at the look of happy satisfaction on your face. He looked down at your sweet smile and then back up into your eyes, searching them curiously for a moment.

“What?” you asked with a curious smile back at him as you brought your hands down to softly caress the sides of his neck.

He looked you over again, nuzzling his nose sweetly around yours a few more times before turning his sincere eyes back to yours.

“I…I love ya, Y/N,” he said looking over into your eyes with his which were so vulnerably honest.

You smiled the biggest, sweetest smile that he had seen yet cross your lips.

“I love you too, Daryl…” you said, smiling up at him with pure happy, bliss.

He smiled happily back at your words and nuzzled his nose around yours again.

“If ya let me, I’ll spend the rest of my days showin’ you just how much,” he said, circling his nose around yours a few more times before nudging his nose up into yours.

This caused you to tilt your head up, leaning now parted lips back up towards his.

“I can’t wait…” you said with a smile, pulling his lips back to yours for another loving, hungry kiss.

He sighed happily and pushed his lips back to yours, devouring you with a kiss that told you he was being completely sincere and that he had every intention of making sure no one and nothing ever hurt you again…


End file.
